AFGE Backs Clean Stopgap; GOP Offers Pay Concession

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers, urged Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution to end the nearly month‑long government shutdown and was joined by other labor groups and airline associations pressing for a stopgap. Independent Women delivered roughly 500 personal stories to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding Democratic action. Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Johnson and backed by Sen. John Thune, proposed a concession via the Shutdown Fairness Act to pay all federal workers during the shutdown in an effort to force a resolution. Despite mounting pressure from unions, banks, credit unions and the aviation industry and repeated procedural votes in the Senate, some Democrats have so far resisted a GOP clean stopgap. The shutdown has produced tangible harms — missed paychecks for service members and federal workers, looming SNAP interruptions for millions starting Nov. 1, strained air travel and risks to local economies — prompting calls to reopen the government immediately. With another stopgap vote scheduled, leaders say the union defection and widening bipartisan pressure increase incentives for Democrats to accept the GOP stopgap or present an alternative to restore funding.